A Briefer History of Time

A Briefer History of Time
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
Copyright 2008
Okay, so I'll admit it, I am a physicist groupie.  Seriously, call me Neil Tyson DeGrasse.  We can stay up all night chatting about star nurseries. :)  My telescope is primed and ready.

I read A Brief History of Time a while ago and loved it.  I remember trying to start conversations with my husband about the possibility of time travel and its feasibility issues with mass.  Really people, our dinner conversations are edge of your seat. Err, I mean, mind numbing.

I was uber excited when this book found its way beneath our Christmas tree this year.  I don't remember if this book is briefer than the 1998 version, but I do know that it was just as easy a read.  That being said, and maybe it's just my "Mommy Brain," I don't understand a damn thing I just read.  I was able to follow their thought processes and understand what they were saying while I was reading, but by the end of the chapter, I was almost as ignorant as I was at the get go.  I can't say I walked away without learning anything, but I certainly can't tell you what I learned.

The illustrations and examples in the book were excellent.  They did a great job coming up with innovative ways to explore absolute time and multiple dimensions in picture form.  And I felt that the "layperson's examples" really did make the notions easier to grasp for the average Joe.  They certainly brought generally relativity and (for the most part) quantum mechanics down to my level.  I am sad that I don't understand any more about string theory.  If Stephen Hawking can't help me understand string theory, who can?

Mr. Tyson DeGrasse, I hope this does not lower your opinion of me.

***Up next: Breaking TWIG by Deborah Epperson***